The 'wholesale' category represents electricity purchased by the municipality for resale to its own customers. It is not broken down into usage by sector.

Learn more: Read about how BC is aiming to reduce energy consumption while improving efficiency and security in the BC Energy Plan.

1 tonne = 1 megagram = 1000 kilograms.

According to Natural Resources Canada,
one gigajoule is equivalent to about 26L of gasoline, 39L of propane, 277hWh of electricity, or 27m3 of natural gas.

The average Canadian household uses 100GJ of energy per year to heat their home.

Sorry, heating and electricity consumption information for this region is unavailable.

District Municipality of Kent

Commute mode

Transportation is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.
Environmentally-friendly and sustainable commute options are coloured in lighter shades of green.

Where do you fit in?

I commute to and from work or school by .

Great! You are doing your part to help reduce emissions in BC and the world.

Walking is good exercise, and environmentally friendly. Compared to driving a car, no carbon dioxide is generated.

Great! You are doing your part to help reduce emissions in BC and the world.

Bicycling is good exercise, and environmentally friendly. Compared to driving a car, no carbon dioxide is generated.

Great! You are doing your part to help reduce emissions in BC and the world.

Taking public transit is a sensible and affordable way to get to work. For every kilometre travelled on public transit, about 8 grams of carbon dioxide is generated.

For every kilometre travelled in a single-occupancy vehicle, about 293 grams of carbon dioxide is produced. This amount varies significantly based on the efficiency of your vehicle.

Visualize: 293 grams of carbon dioxide in the form of dry ice is enough to fill a 2 Litre pop bottle.

Good! Carpooling helps reduce the number of cars on the road, and the amount of greenhouse gases generated. Assuming a full van with 6 passengers and 1 driver, each occupant will generate about 43 grams of carbon dioxide.

Visualize: 43 grams of carbon dioxide in the form of dry ice is about 6 teaspoons.

A motorcycle produces fewer emissions than a car or van. For every kilometre travelled in a motorcycle, about 119 grams of carbon dioxide is produced.

Taxis can generate more carbon dioxide than a private single-occupancy vehicle, as the taxi carries a non-commuting driver, and must travel significant distances to reach each customer.

The density of solid carbon dioxide (dry ice) is approximately 1.4g/mL.

Is Kent trending towards greater use of environmentally-friendly commute options?

Transit usage increased significantly between between 2001 and 2006 in many municipalities across the province. Is Kent one of them? How would you explain the increase?

In 2004, transportation comprised 39% of BC's total greenhouse gas emissions. Estimate how much of the 39% is from single-occupant vehicles.

Footnotes

These statistics are based on the primary commute mode between the home and workplace of each commuter. As a result, actual commute distances are greater.

Learn more: Your carbon footprint while walking or cycling is not strictly zero — it varies depending on your diet. Read the Pacific Institute's analysis on this topic.

Sorry, the commute mode data for this region is unavailable.

District Municipality of Kent

Commute distance

Year

Commuters

< 5km

5–10km

10–15km

15–25km

25km+

2006

1,630

605

37.1%

250

15.3%

100

6.1%

360

22.1%

315

19.3%

Where do you fit in?

Enter your home and workplace address to calculate your own commute distance.

Think about it

Look at the percentage of the commuting population within each commute distance bracket. Given Kent's size, location, and geography, do you think the proportions make sense?

Would you call Kent a commuter town? A suburb?

Calculate the number of Kent residents who do not commute to work.
Where may they commute to instead, and how far would their trips be? What are the
demographics of this group, and how does this affect their share of emissions?

Footnotes

These statistics are based on the straight-line distance between the home and workplace of each commuter. As a result, actual commute distances are greater.

Online tool: Use BC Hydro's Analyze My Home tool for a customized report on how to save energy in your home.

Sorry, the housing data for this region is unavailable.

District Municipality of Kent

Land use and greenspace

This graphic represents all the land under the jurisdiction of the District Municipality of Kent.

Land area

Parks and protected areas

Year

Population

Total

Net

Federal

Provincial

Local

ALR

Other

2009

5,515

221.09km2

33.24km2

-

8.09km2

0.25km2

65.19km2

114.33km2

165.9/km2

60.3m2/person

Higher density makes public transit more efficient and feasible to operate.
It also brings goods and services closer to residents, thereby reducing commutes.
Combined with the energy savings of increased housing density, these factors reduce emissions per capita.

Think about it

What may be comprising the land classified as 'other' in Kent?

Below is a list of some of the densest cities in the world. How much would the population of
Kent need to increase in order to reach a similar population density? Alternatively,
how little land must the current population of Kent fit into in order to achieve a similar density? Imagine what life would be like in those conditions.

City

World density rank

Population

Area (km2)

Density (/km2)

Manila, Philippines

1

1,660,714

38.55

43,079

Mumbai, India

20

13,830,884

603.0

22,937

Paris, France

30

2,203,817

105.4

20,909

Athens, Greece

36

745,514

38.96

19,135

Macau, China

42

542,200

29.2

18,568

Seoul, Korea

49

10,464,051

605.25

17,288

New York City, USA

-

8,391,881

789.0

10,636

What are the pros and cons of increased population density?

How much parkland is there per capita?

Footnotes

Net land area = Total land area - (unsurveyed Crown land + federal, provincial, and local parks + Indian Reserves + ALR + bodies of water + waste disposal sites + airports). Net land area is used to calculate population density.

'ALR' stands for 'Agricultural Land Reserve'. It is arable land set aside by the Province for the express purpose of agriculture.

District Municipality of Kent

Air quality

Monitoring stations

Ground-level ozone (O3)

What is ozone?

Ozone is a greenhouse gas. Ground-level ozone is formed primarily by sunlight reacting with carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and nitrogen oxide pollution.
The layer of ozone in the stratosphere is produced by UV light reacting with oxygen in the air, which in turn prevents most UV radiation
from reaching the surface of the earth. However, ozone at ground-level is not beneficial.

Increased concentrations of ground-level ozone is harmful to both human health and the environment.
It traps heat, and is the primary component of smog.

The World Health Organization's guideline threshold for 8-hour mean ozone is 100µg/m3, or 51ppb. The Canadian annual mean maximum is 46ppb.
The world's background ozone level is approximately 28ppb. Ozone levels lower than this concentration are caused by further reactions with pollutants.

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5)

What is particulate matter?

This is a measure of the concentration of solid or liquid particles suspended in the air. PM2.5 means particles less than 2.5µm in diameter. These particulates are produced by burning wood and fossil fuels.

Particulates of this size cause serious health problems, as they remain in the deep in the lungs after being inhaled.